Between Death and Destiny (paperback) by W. L. Brooks

After a near fatal accident, Reegan McGrath is warned never to come back to Willows Bluff. For years she stayed away despite the haunting nightmares. Now, with her grandmother dying, Reegan returns to find an evolving second sight, a man she is fated to fall in love with, and an overwhelming reaction to an old foe.

Well aware that the people in Willows Bluff still believe she murdered her father, Bernadette Howard is reluctant to open up to anyone, least of all Reegan McGrath. But fate has other ideas when the two women uncover their connection to a decades-old curse.

To unravel the mystery that’s destined to destroy them, Reegan and Bernie need to put aside their mutual distrust. They must “see what was unseen, learn what was unknown, right what was wronged, or suffer the same.”

Reegan’s cheeks were tracked with tears, and she glanced at the door hoping her mother would come, wondering if she should call out for help. Then she yelped when her hair was once again yanked. “Patch,” she pleaded.

“This is not what I would have wanted, but damn it all to hell, you will listen to what I say!”

Reegan nodded and took her cell phone from her pocket. She found the recorder in her apps and said, “Start from the beginning.”

Patch eyed the phone and nibbled her lip. “Once, I can only repeat it once.”

“But why?”

“Because that’s the promise,” Patch whispered. “Envious greed spills out with intent upon an afflicted mind consumed with fear. Fire and condemnation will bring forth the card of death. There is no undoing what is done, but you can trace the path that led to this. Four wanted to be three, and three would never be two—different but ever the same. You must see what was unseen, learn what was unknown, right what was wronged, or suffer the same.”

“Patch, I don’t understand.”

Patch peered into Reegan’s eyes. “I know you don’t and forgive me for that. These are the cards we were dealt before either of us existed. I had hoped—” Her voice broke, but she continued. “We had hoped these things wouldn’t come to pass, but what goes around always comes back ’round.”

“I…” What could she say?

“Promise you’ll try!”

“I…I promise.”

“Always loved my girl.”

“I love you, Patch,” Reegan whispered and turned off the recorder.

“Yep, old Patch did well,” she wheezed out with a crooked smile. “Broke their hearts when you didn’t come back, but I knew what you were about.”

Reegan grabbed a tissue from the box on the nightstand and blotted her face. “What do you mean?” The old woman coughed a couple of times, and Reegan helped her sip some water.